2018 CONCACAF Champions League Thread

You too sunshine.

 

You're rude. Then you're missing the entire point of the other side of the argument.

Their strategy isn't good enough to win CCL, that's what the other side is saying, something NYRB and TFC worked tirelessly to address and guess what, it paid off for them. So it's a fair comment to question how seriously Seattle front office takes CCL, not the players.

Be mature, grow up and just say that you disagree like an adult and move on instead of insulting like a 10 years and trying to act cool

 

Ugh...so weak...surely you can do better

 

And with this, I think it is time for you to trundle along. Thanks!

 

Clearly NYRB didn't spend the effort to win CCL, as they also have a DP spot open. (unless someone sees another DP on roster than BWP and Kaku)

 

That's what Lizzie said......

 

What really impresses me about him is he has successfully achieved the impossible - he's got a bunch of Sounders haters defending the Sounders! Now that is impressive!

 

This literally made me lol. Well done!

 

No teams are perfect and it's perfectly normal to defend your team.

I was a Montreal die hard fan since the mid 2000s and I'm well aware of their past and current flaws and trust me, I could make a list of what's wrong with Montreal. I'm 10 times harder on them than on teams I'm not a fan off or don't follow. Other people's criticism made me see some of their flaws as well allowing me to join my voice to the fans and media's criticism and demand change. They are trying to address some of those criticism now which I think is the best way to help provoking changes and improvement.

At the end of the day, we're all on the same continent and we all want our region and all the leagues that are part of it to succeed and improve so we can be that much prouder of what's being done in North America versus what Europe and the rest of the world.

I respect the Mexican strength but their domination is not good for CONCACAF, no fault of theirs, but we all need to step up and I'm all for MLS winning the CCL, Costa Rica getting better and so on. MLS winning CCL would be a huge statement and a huge win for North American soccer which would earn us more respect from the rest of the world.

 

Seattle technically does not have a dp spot open.
Dempsey, Lodeiro and Alonso.

Alonso's contract has been kept at a point where they can buy him down with TAM/GAM to free up a spot. But it's still a million dollar contract.

They have decent depth. Injuries are a bitch.
Alonso, Lodeiro, Vrod, Leerdam, Morris. Then losing Bruin and Marshall early in the game. That means you have two less subs and you are playing at altitude.

Chivas was always good enough to win even without Seattle's injuries. But a more healthy Seattle makes it a different game.

Seattle brought in Eikram and Kim as depth TAM signings. Kim will be good once he acclimates to the team and his CB partners.

Francis will be good competition/backup for Nouhou. McCrary will be serviceable as a backup for Leerdam. Our midfield will be fine.

Torres always seems to start the season a little slow.

They brought in depth. Even expensive depth.
They also gave good minutes to HGPs in Wingo and Bwana.

It's hard to recover from two more injuries at the beginning of the game that forces you to use two subs when you already have a bunch of injuries.

 

What are the changes you'd like to see your team make?

 

A very high level DP #9 now that Morris is injured for the season.

If Sam Rogers continues to improve I want him signed to a first team contract and drop Alfaro.

That's it.

 

How out of touch are you? That's precisely what has been going on for the last two years.

 

He's not out of touch, he's trolling because he's starved for attention. Does it in literally every single thread he posts in. Extremely disappointing that the mods haven't dumped him from N&A yet.

 

Kyle Larin sends his regards

 

As this is the 2018 Champions league thread, not an MLS regular season thread, my comment is specific to teams having the depth to perform in both campaign. I'm fully aware the league took measures for teams to address depth which further raised the level of play in MLS.

TFC made lots of changes after losing to Seattle in 2016, but they prepared for both the MLS Cup and CCL Cup. Last time an MLS team reached the finals it was Montreal in the 2015 CCL but they clearly picked CCL over MLS, they weren't deep enough to do both but they wanted to win CCL badly. They went after Laurent Ciman right before the CCL knockout stage, he was named MLS Defender of the year and the main reason the team beat the odds by; eliminating Pachuca, Alajuelense and getting a result at Azteca of all places.

TFC are better prepared for America than Montreal thanks in part to MLS new sets of measures but will that be enough? That game is crucial to answer that question.

MLS desire to win CCL is there, I just question how many of the teams that qualify for CCL share that urgency/desire to win the trophy, which is a point that others brought up many times.

 

You use TFC as an example.

They just get all the hype and I am pretty sure they didn't have all the injury issues Seattle does.

Seattle still brought in depth in the off season and are a better team than they were last year.

 

How could a MLS team, in particular a Canadian team, not have a desire to win the CCL? Anyway, if the best club in MLS loses to one of the best 3 teams in CONCACAF it doesn't mean that they didn't have a desire to win.

 

I don't doubt you on Seattle bringing more depth in the off season and thanks for the quick summary on Seattle and what change you'd do.

I used TFC as an example because they are the 1st team since LA Galaxy to win the MLS cup and reaching the semi-finals of the CCL which is quite the accomplishment. I recall that Seattle were the SS winners and also went to the semi-finals so this applies to them as well.

However, I don't think TFC can go the whole way with their current depth either.

 

Sounds like hard times coming up for our beloved MLS teams having to face the likes of Chivas and Club America, but maybe--you never know...

 

First, exactly how many Ibrahimovic type players are there? Stars with a global profile who are aging but still capable of getting time with a top club.
Drogba was a similar case, with a good year left in him when he arrived, but I don't think there's an MLS side looking to sign him now, is there> I thought he was an owner player in USL, and had announced his retirement?
Obviously, this is the path MLS clubs are now treading, bringing in much greater depth, opening up academies to produce more strong local players, etc. So are you agreeing with what MLS is doing right now?
These year's MLSPA numbers will be really interesting.

 

I'd never question the players desire to win, but some ownership/front office and the way they build their teams? Hope that has changed but that wasn't the case for all the teams in the past as others have already raised that point.

I get the impression that MLS cup is still prioritize over CCL and not put on equal footing by some teams

 

I think MLS are doing the right thing in their new direction with emphasis on depth but I think they should be more ambitious and let go of some of the self imposed restrictions to become a much stronger league.

The league has all the mechanism to be dominant in CONCACAF and close the gap or erase it. I get why its not being done but that's a topic for another day.

 

This weekend in domestic league action:

Saturday March 17

Liga MX

#2 Club America vs #3 Toluca 11:00 pm Univision Deportes Network
#15 Chivas Guadalajara vs #4 Tigres UANL 11:06 pm Univision (Main channel)

MLS

#21 Montreal Impact vs #22 Toronto FC 3:00 pm CTV, MLS Live
#17 Real Salt Lake vs #5 New York Red Bulls 9:00 pm MSG2, MLS Live

 

The Montreal - TFC derby being on CTV is a huge deal in Canada. That's a milestone for MLS although I doubt that non derby games would be purchase by the other Canadian broadcasters in the near future